The rental business is been growing slowly but surely, it is doing a better job of convincing renters the importance and need of getting insurance. A 2014 Insurance Information Institute poll conducted by ORC International found that only 37 percent of renters have renter’s insurance, up eight percent from 2011. This number kept on growing since 2006, this is good news for insurance and for property management companies.

As a security, apartments should make renter’s insurance a priority, since both property and resident have a lot to lose. Apartments are going to be vulnerable to uninsured residents unless they require it within a lease and keenly manage it. Skipping out on insurance can be one of the biggest mistakes renters make, which is entirely avoidable.

To encourage renters to purchase insurance, provide them with viable insurance options, prior to signing their lease. A loss of possessions as a result of natural disaster could keep tenants from paying rent on time, which hurts property managers in the end.

Studies show 79 percent of mobile users who find a site difficult to use will look for the information they need on another site and never return.

There are several marketing strategies that can be tackle for the real estate industry, but nothing seems to be more efficient than mobile marketing. Almost 90 percent of shoppers use their mobile device during a property search, this is a pretty staggering stats, and a proof of real estate consumers are using more their mobile than the average consumer.

One of the most important things you should do to attract mobile users is to create a mobile-friendly website.  That means if your competitor has a mobile site and you don’t, you’re sending them a ton of business. Also, it is important to keep your website updated with the latest information since consumers are waiting for the trending relevant data. Three important factors to have in mind while building a website:

1. Simply change your template!
2. Build a mobile website.
3. Build a responsive website.

Stay tuned, because before you actually build that mobile site, you should know exactly what mobile consumers want and need when they land on a mobile website.

There have been many incidents and mistakes when tenants try to pay rent or make a money deposit. Rent payment checks stolen from drop boxes and employee fraud are small crimes behind the scenes at apartments that add up to big headaches for property managers. “I’ve heard stories of thieves using those static cleaners to lift checks and money orders out of drop boxes,”  Also, we seen cases where tenants mistake in writing the check, or other having trouble with the mail system losing their money order.

Technology offered a more efficient payment form and structure, the creation of E-payment is the safest and fastest way to pay rent. Now you don’t have to go buy a money order, come back and drop it off at the office during business hours or in that drop box/black whole. It is much simpler, setting a virtual account with all your bank information allowing every month to schedule a rent payment.

Electronic money orders offer advantages for owners, managers and residents

• Convenience and Security for Residents
• Help Properties Eliminate Internal Fraud
• Process Efficiencies
• Integration in Property Management Software
• Cash Payment Validation
• Real-Time Posting to Resident Ledger

One of the main factors that E-payment could influence tenants, is the time they save. They are able to manage their schedule more efficiently by only giving an online click they have the rent payment solved. Also, this encourages tenants to avoid late fees by summiting payment in the last minute saving them money on extra charges.

Maintenance can be a necessary evil in the apartment industry. Several factors can influence the expected capital gain outcome, such as investing in a new water heater, HVAC repairs, and pipes burst in units old and new. Repairs tend to add up, so do expenses, so the only backfire is an efficient management.

Effective management of repairs and expenses will reduce the blow in many cases, but that goes beyond getting good deals on replacement items. The solution is the usage of an effective maintenance management software, “If you look for right tools to execute your business strategy, you will win” Effective use of technology available today offers a close-up view of the moving parts of maintenance.

Property Owners are constantly looking for getting the most profitability in their unit, especially if it’s purchased with investment purposes. Maintenance is the biggest challenged faced by landlords, since repairs are expensive and labor even more. Adapting to new technology seems the most efficient outcome to the maintenance expense, but it should be apply with the right tool. Property Management firms tend to update their systems to become more competitive in this industry and to offer a better service.

Banks are back stimulating the real estate market essentially in the multifamily sector. We highlight the remarkable growth in multifamily loans that been issued by commercial banks. Among all categories, none has grown faster than the multifamily over the last six years, as an overall lending share is now in a 20 year high.  We examined evidence that the apartment sector isn’t giving any signs of reaching a “bubble crisis” status.

Nowadays, we see the bubble phenomenon far for the real estate industry, today’s climate has passed the recovery phase into the growth stage. “NOI growth, loan yields and cap rates all appear past peak levels, while apartment construction has surged to 25-year highs. At the same time, investor appetite for apartments hasn’t abated. Competition among lenders has picked up, returning some bargaining power back to borrowers.” (Property Management Insider)

To conclude, is recommended for multifamily owner or investors to reduce risk by refining acceptable characteristics for a multifamily loan, looking much more narrowly at geographies and classes most likely to grow NOI. Also, to seek more sophisticated benchmarking and forecasting data that’s owners or investors to see how an asset is positioned relative to the market or submarket. Property Management is the key of increasing NOI in the multifamily sector, since management could be the only key ingredient that could increase the NOI and bring clear results to problems.

 The construction and building activity in the Southeast is been picking up in the last year and is expected to keep this trend for the next year. While the panelists varied in the estimates the increase results in construction, majority will be the number of new construction starts in 2012 will likely top this year’s total by 50 percent. “You’ve now got development companies that have ramped back up, so there are people out there in all the markets trying to get product,” said Greg Bonifield, a partner at Arlington, Va.-based Woodfield Investments. Overall analysis determine that South Florida and Carolinas are the most attractive places to invest in United States. The increase in construction will help boost multifamily construction, and there is a tremendous bidding pressure to deliver assets in time. “Apartments are the asset class where buyers are back. So we’re seeing sites that formerly would have gone to condos that would’ve gone to office that would’ve gone to retail now coming to us.”

It’s that time of the year!  A heater is the only resource to take the chill off an apartment. But the flow of warm air can become a dangerous and damaging device if it’s left unattended of being misused. People tend to find their own ways of heating up their place, such as using kitchen stoves or ovens to stay warm. This unorthodox ideas could lead to accidents or damage to the property, it is strongly recommended to follow the tips to obtain the same outcome without putting property/life at risk.

The American Red Cross offers these tips to help prevent a home fire from alternate heating sources:

1.  Keep all potential sources of fuel like paper, clothing, bedding or rugs at least three feet away from space heaters, stoves, or fireplaces.
2.  Portable heaters and fireplaces should never be left unattended. Turn off space heaters and make sure any embers in the fireplace are extinguished before going to bed or leaving home.
3. If you must use a space heater, place it on a level, hard and nonflammable surface (such as ceramic tile floor), not on rugs or carpets or near bedding or drapes. Keep children and pets away from space heaters.
4. When buying a space heater, look for models that shut off automatically if the heater falls over as another safety measure.
5. Never use a cooking range or oven to heat your home.
6. Keep fire in your fireplace by using a glass or metal fire screen large enough to catch sparks and rolling logs.
7. Have wood and coal stoves, fireplaces, chimneys, and furnaces professionally inspected and cleaned once a year.